07-007 Chinese Protestant Bible, from CUV to the millennium

07-007
Chinese Protestant Bible, from CUV to the millennium

In 1919, we saw the birth of a prominent Chinese translation of the Bible, the Chinese Union Version (CUV). It is the second translation of the complete Bible into vernacular Chinese and is still the most popular translation among Chinese Protestant community.

Created to promote unity between different denominations of the Protestant church, CUV is unarguably the most successful translation. We saw Chinese churches of nearly every denomination using the same Bible in their worship for many years. However, this kind of “union” is not without challenge. 

1933 - New Punctuated New Testament by Wang Yuan Teh (王宣忱譯本)

New Punctuated New Testament by Wang Yuan Teh
Image source: fhl.net

Even before the publishing of CUV, there were already voices of asking for a better translation. And one of the voices was from the CUV translation committee.

Wang Yuan Teh, a member of the CUV translation committee, released his own translation of the New Testament 14 years after the publication of CUV. The translation is his sole work and it follows closely with the CUV. Sometimes, the translation is considered as a revision of the CUV rather than a separate new translation.

It is difficult to purchase a hardcopy of New Punctuated New Testament by Wang Yuan Teh nowadays. But his translation is available on the Bible app YouVersion. 

1936 - New Testament by Zhu Baihui (朱寶惠譯本)

New Testament by Zhu Baihui
Image source: fhl.net

Absalom Sydenstricker was an American Presbyterian missionary to China from 1880 to 1931. Zhu Baihui learned Greek from him. The two then teamed up to translate the New Testament based directly on the Greek Received Text. Absalom passed away in 1931 and Zhu continued his work and completed the translation in 1936. Their translation was published in Shanghai through financial support from Absalom’s daughter Pearl.

This translation was reprinted in 2007 and is also available free on Bible app YouVersion.

1939 - The Bible Treasury New Testament by Heinrich Ruck and Zheng Shoulin (國語新舊庫譯本)

The Bible Treasury New Testament by Heinrich Ruck and Zheng Shoulin

Zheng Shoulin was a scholar in German studies. He is a doctor from Leipzig University. He teamed with German evangelist Heinrich Ruck and translated the Book of Romans in 1931 into Chinese. They completed the translation of the New Testament in 1939.

It is difficult to purchase a hardcopy of The Bible Treasury New Testament by Heinrich Ruck and Zheng Shoulin nowadays. But their translation is available on the Bible app YouVersion.

1967 - New Testament by Rev. Theodore E. Hsiao (蕭鐵笛譯本)

New Testament by Rev. Theodore E. Hsiao

Image source: fhl.net

Many years later, we saw another attempt of translating the New Testament into Chinese. The translation was in Taiwanese Mandarin by Rev. Theodore E. Hsiao. It was published by Hong Kong Ling Liang Church in 1967.

Hardcopy of The New Testament by Rev. Theodore E. Hsiao is difficult to find nowadays. But his translation is available on the Bible app YouVersion. 

1970 - Lü Chen Chung’s translation (呂振中譯本)

Lü Chen Chung’s translation

For more than a half century after the publishing of the Chinese Union Version, we have another Protestant translation of the complete Bible. And this time, the translation was done by a single person, Rev. Lü Chen Chung. Translation of the Old Testament is based on the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the New Testament is based on the German Eberhard Nestle’s Bible.

Rev. Lü uses a direct translate approach on his work. His translation follows more closely to the original texts and can bring out the original meaning of the scriptures easier. But sentence structure was also diverted away from that of standard Chinese, causing readers an odd feeling when trying to read his translation.

Translation of the New Testament was completed in 1952 and the Old Testament in 1963. The whole Bible was published by Hong Kong Bible Society in 1970.

Hardcopy of Lü Chen Chung’s translation is difficult to find nowadays. But his translation is available on the Bible app WeDevote Bible. 

1979 - Today's Chinese Version TCV (現代中文譯本)

Today's Chinese Version (TCV)

One more Chinese translation of the complete Bible, Today’s Chinese Version TCV, arrived in the late 70s. This translation was published by The United Bible Societies (UBS). The New Testament was first published in 1975, and the entire Bible was published in 1979.

Translation is based on the English Today's English Version, the Hebrew Kittel Biblia Hebraica and the Greek New Testament. Hard copy of TCV is widely available in Christian bookstore. It is also the second legal translation to be used in churches in mainland China. (The first is CUV, of course.) Digital version is available free on the Bible app YouVersion.

1979 - Chinese Living Bible CLB (當代聖經)

Chinese Living Bible (CLB)

In the same year 1979, we saw another Protestant translation of the complete Bible being published, The Chinese Living Bible CLB. Translation was published by Chinese Bible International Limited. The New Testament was first published in 1974, and the entire Bible was published in 1979.

Translation is based on Kenneth N. Taylor’s The Living Bible. A revised version of Chinese Living Bible was published in 2016 under the name Chinese Contemporary Bible CCB.

CLB is generally replaced by the revised version CCB. Hard copy of CLB is still available from some Christian bookstores or second hand market. Digital version of the CLB can be read from here.

1988 - Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation CUNP (新標點和合本)

Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation (CUNP)

Not exactly a new translation, Chinese Union Version with New Punctuation CUNP is the first attempt to modify the then decades old CUV. It is jointly published by the United Bible Societies, Hong Kong Bible Society and The Bible Society in Taiwan for worldwide market, and by China Christian Council in Shanghai for mainland China .

Only minor revisions were made in this version. The most noticeable change is the alignment of punctuations. In the original CUV, punctuations located at the side of the main text. In CUNP, punctuations are listed alongside with the text, which makes reading much easier.

In CUV, punctuations located at the side of the main text

In CUNP, punctuations are listed alongside with the text

Also, some wording and proper nouns (people's names and place names) have been changed in order to adapt to the modern use of the Chinese language. For example, the word “eat” / “喫” was changed to a more common character “吃”. The word “then” / “纔” became “才”. And the word “enough” / “彀” became “夠”.

Hard copy of CUNP is widely available from larger bookstores. It can also be found in Hong Kong Public Libraries. Digital version is available on Bible apps WeDevote Bible & YouVersion. 

1992 – Chinese New Version CNV (新譯本)

Chinese New Version (CNV)

The Chinese New Version CNV is a complete new translation of the Protestant Bible using modern Chinese language. It is first published in 1992 by the Worldwide Bible Society and is probably the second most commonly used translation by Chinese Protestant Christians.

Translation of the Old Testament is based on Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the New Testament based on Novum Testamentum Graece.

Digital version of CNV is available on many Bible apps such as WeDevote Bible & YouVersion. Hard copy of CNV is widely available from larger bookstores in both traditional and simplified Chinese. Although being popular, CNV is still not a “legal” translation to be used in Christian churches in mainland China. 

1999 - Easy-to-read Bible ERV (易读圣经)

The Easy-to-Read Version ERV is an accurate translation of the Bible created by the translation team at Bible League International. New readers sometimes struggle with reading older standardized translations of Bible text because of their unfamiliarity with the Bible. The ERV uses simpler vocabulary and shorter sentences while maintaining the integrity of the original texts.

Translation is based on the English Easy-to-read Bible. And the English version is based on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia for the Old Testament and Novum Testamentum Graece for the New Testament. At the time of writing, only the translation of the New Testament is completed.

I have never seen a hard copy of the Chinese ERV. But a digital version is available here.

After the millennium, we saw a blossom in Chinese Bible translation. At least 17 new translations or revisions of the Protestant Bible appeared. In order not to make this post too long, I would like to take a break here. In the next post, I will move on to discuss those newer translations. Stay tuned!

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